How to Cash In Your Collection

The fun part of the sports card collecting hobby is normally when you buy baseball cards or the cards of other sports. The hobby wouldn’t work, however, if everybody bought cards and nobody sold them. In addition, selling parts, or all, of your collection can really pay off and, here, we’re offering some tips on the best way to cash in on your precious collectibles.

When you’re ready to sell baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards or hockey cards, you need to do some preparation so you know you’re getting the best deal. It’s worth putting in a little time — not only to understand the value of the cards you’re selling, but to learn more about your hobby. With the internet, you can take advantage of the many available options when you go to sell baseball cards.

Sort Your Cards

When you sell baseball cards, you have to know what you have. You want to hold on to some cards, and you’ve likely accumulated a bunch of common cards that aren’t worth much, if anything. So, before you contact a buyer, sort your cards to determine which cards you want to sell and which have some value.

Of course, if you want to cash in your collection, you can skip this step because you’ve decided to sell all your cards. Then again, reviewing and sorting what you have helps you get an idea how much your collection is worth. Additionally, having your collection organized helps the seller review your cards, which may lead to a better offer.

Assess the Value

Invest the time to determine if you have any valuable cards. Value appraisals, or value assessments, not only set your expectations for how much money you may reap from selling your baseball cards, but it also lets you further sort your cards into those that have value and … the others. Note the condition of the cards you think will bring the highest return.

While you can have the high-value cards professionally graded before selling your card collection, it’s usually unnecessary for lower-to-medium value cards. As long as you’ve stored your cards properly and treated them with care, they’re in as good a shape as you can manage. Don’t try to correct card defects, as this can render the cards worthless.

Sell Baseball Cards

This may be the most difficult step, since you need to find a scrupulous buyer as well as one who’ll give you the best price. Dealers are easier to find than individual buyers, so the possibility of a sale with a broker or auction house is higher, especially if you have cards of value. Of course we’d recommend reaching out to us and consign with Goldin Auctions, but see below for additional options.

Brokers and auction houses have the resources to authenticate your most expensive cards, so they’re best able to know what to ask in a sale or auction. You have many options when it comes to finding a buyer to sell baseball cards to:

Pawn shop. Yes, you can sell your cards at a pawn shop, but pawn brokers may not have any idea of the value of your collection, so go with a price and be prepared to negotiate down.

Card shop or broker. One of the easiest ways to sell your collection is to take it (or a list of your cards and their condition) to a local card shop or send the list to a broker. They’ll be able to give you an estimate, dependent on actually examining the cards. This is also a good option when you don’t want to do a lot of work, but still want a good price. You can also choose to sell your whole collection or just some of your cards.

eBay. This option may be the most hit-and-miss, as well as the most time-intensive. You have to know the price to ask (the starting point) and the price to accept. You can set both online, but you have to gauge the interest and the timing. Everything about the sale, in other words, is up to you. eBay takes its cut, too. Good luck when you sell baseball cards to online strangers.

Auction house. This option is best suited for those who have valuable collections. You get the most people — and the most qualified buyers — lining up to bid on your collection. With an auction house, even with the commission, you’re more likely to get top dollar for your valuable cards. And you can still sell the whole collection or just the most valuable cards in your set. Click here to consign with us today.